Iga Swiatek’s coach says it won’t be the “end of the world” if the Pole fails to qualify for the WTA Tour Finals for the first time in six years.

The 25-year-old is on track for her worst year since 2021, when she ended the season ninth in the rankings after playing in the WTA Finals for the first time.

Swiatek is currently in that spot heading into the Asian Swing, but in the Race, she is down in 10th – nearly 700 points behind eighth-placed Linda Noskova.

At the US Open, the six-time major winner collapsed from 5-0 up in the first set against Qinwen Zheng and went on to lose in the fourth round in New York.

The former world No 1 is scheduled to play in Beijing and Wuhan as she tries to claw back her ranking points deficit. But coach Francisco Roig is not too het up about the season-ending tournament.

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He told Radio Zet, “It’s definitely still a long way off, but yes, it’s our goal. However, if we don’t achieve it, it won’t be the end of the world. We’ll have a little more time to prepare as best we can for next season.

“Iga [Swiatek] and I talked about the WTA Finals. The point is, if we perform well in the two upcoming tournaments, we could still [qualify] depending on our opponents’ results. That’s why we want to try to achieve the best results possible without thinking about the WTA Finals.”

Rafael Nadal’s former coach, Roig, joined Swiatek’s coaching team back in April but the partnership has not been an instant success.

Swiatek failed to make it past the fourth round in the three majors they have worked together this year and other than the high of winning the Canadian Open in August, there has arguably been precious little to cling onto.

Despite that, Roig is seeing positive signs for the Polish star, particularly when it comes down to reducing her unforced errors and improving the forehand.

He continued, “Above all, she made fewer mistakes. The first rule in tennis is not to make them. I’m sure that when Iga wasn’t advancing, she often lost. It wasn’t like the other player was beating her. We were the ones losing.

“What does this mean? Iga made mistakes too often on her first serve. She tried too hard when she didn’t need to. But Iga is Iga. She has to try. But in my opinion, sometimes she wants it too much. Opponents should be trying to play against her, and she doesn’t have to do it every time.

“She needs to play more solidly. And in Toronto, she improved dramatically in this regard, and she also hit better-quality balls. Her forehand had a better shape, and she played better angles on her backhand. This allowed her to extend each rally, and she later found easier balls to attack instead of trying to attack from more difficult positions.

“Fewer errors when serving high-quality balls yields a lot in tennis. With less effort, and without having to get to the ball so quickly. Sometimes Iga tries to get to the ball too quickly, and then she blocks her movement. We still need to improve all these things, and many more, but that’s the foundation.”

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